Removing a Pastor Wisely

A friend sent me an article yesterday about a well-known megachurch pastor (although he’s not someone I’m familiar with) who was removed from office by the governing board of his church for “ongoing sinful behavior” over “the past few years.”

When I read the article, I was impressed by the way the board handled the situation.

In my experience, whenever a pastor is terminated or forced to resign, the board often handles matters poorly. The board identifies the pastor as their enemy, exaggerates any charges against him, and either fires him outright or forces him to quit.

But the board mentioned in this article, in my view, seemed to do everything in a biblical and healthy manner.

Let me highlight five things that this board did right:

First, the board spoke with their pastor directly about their concerns.

Don’t all boards do this?

No, they don’t.

Too many times, church boards never tell their pastor what they’re seeing or hearing in his life or ministry that bothers them. They remain silent, hold a secret meeting without the pastor present, detail all his faults, conclude he has to go, and assign someone to tell him he’s fired … or agree to tell him together at the next board meeting.

Individual board members might tell their spouses how they feel about their pastor … or they might tell certain friends in the church … but they never approach their pastor personally.

But thankfully, this board shared their concerns directly with their pastor from the very beginning, so that when he left, he didn’t feel that the board conspired behind his back or fired him via ambush.

One pastor told me he was fired in an email … without any kind of warning. Another pastor was fired via certified letter. Other pastors I know have been told they’re fired right after a Sunday service … again, without ever being told that anything was wrong.

Such tactics speak volumes about the lack of maturity on the board.

Second, the board told the pastor that their goal was his restoration.

Much of the time, this is the key … but missing … element whenever a church board tries to correct their pastor’s behavior.

Think of Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:15:

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”

According to Jesus, what is the goal when a fellow believer sins against you?

The overarching goal is to win your brother over … to get him to listen to your concerns, repent of his wrongdoing, and change his behavior.

The goal is not to remove the pastor from office or from the fellowship. That’s the last step in the process (verse 17), not the first step.

I’ve discovered that when a board begins with the end result … “We need to remove our pastor from office right away” … they will wreak havoc on their pastor, his family, the congregation, and even on the board members themselves.

Because all too often, the board really wants to punish the pastor … and engages in what is really a vendetta.

But when the board begins with a process … “We are going to take our time, work the steps, encourage our pastor’s growth, but monitor his behavior” … there may be some fallout, but God will honor such a board’s motive.

Pastors not only have faults they know about … they also have blind spots. The best men do … even those pastors whose sermons you revere or whose books have blessed your life. (And that includes John MacArthur.)

If a pastor believes that he will be treated fairly and graciously by the governing board, he’ll be much more open to admitting his faults and trying to work on them.

But if a pastor believes that the board’s attitude is “one mistake and I’m out,” he’ll become resistant to correction … and too many boards operate like this.

And they’re usually the unspiritual ones.

Third, the board was specific about the behaviors they wanted the pastor to change.

In their letter to the congregation, the board mentioned “historical patterns of sin” and “pastoral misconduct.” They even named the exact behaviors that concerned them.

And, may I add, they gave the pastor plenty of time to change … a few years.

The pastor didn’t have to guess which behaviors the board didn’t like.

He knew.

In addition, the board let the congregation know that the pastor wasn’t guilty of adultery or financial impropriety.

Whenever a pastor is fired, but the governing board is silent about the grounds for dismissal, people automatically assume that the pastor committed adultery or engaged in fiscal shenanigans.

So even though it may not feel like a blessing, it’s wise for a board to say, “We’re dismissing the pastor because he did this and this and this … but we want you to know that he didn’t do this and this.”

The board did such an effective job that the pastor released a statement admitting that the board was right … he was still plagued by certain sins … and that their deliberations were “miraculous and beyond gracious.”

I wish that every dismissed pastor could say that they were treated that justly.

Fourth, the board kept the process as open as possible.

The board not only involved the pastor in the corrective process, but after the pastor agreed to resign, they also told the congregation why the pastor left and encouraged people to send them feedback, including both questions and comments.

They also put their names and email addresses on the contact page so people could easily converse with them.

This is a far cry from most of the situations that I hear about.

I once heard about a church board that announced that their pastor had been dismissed, and then warned the congregation, “You are not to contact the pastor at all.”

If I was told not to contact the pastor, that’s the very next thing I’d do.

You say, “But Jim, wouldn’t your action be divisive?”

My reply: “Unity should always be based upon truth, and trying to find out the truth isn’t by itself divisive.”

You might counter with, “But if you contacted the pastor after the board told you not to, isn’t that being rebellious against God’s leaders?”

Maybe, but what if they’re trying to cover up their own mistakes? What if they’re more guilty than the pastor? How can anyone know unless they do contact the pastor?

I’ve noticed that the more hush-hush the board is about their pastor’s dismissal, the more they’re trying to protect themselves … and the more likely it is that they intend to slander the pastor’s reputation to eliminate any future influence in the congregation.

Finally, the board made sure that the pastor and his family were cared for.

The board did this in two primary ways:

*They gave the pastor a severance package.

*They encouraged the congregation to send encouraging notes to him and his family.

I’m embarrassed to say that there are many church boards that plan to fire their pastor, and at the same time, do all they can to make sure that they don’t offer the pastor any kind of severance.

I’m thinking of one pastor in particular who was forced to resign and was denied severance even though he had no savings, Social Security, or retirement income to fall back on.

Boards offer excuses like:

“We don’t have the money to offer the pastor anything.”

“We have the money but let’s earmark it for other projects.”

“The pastor has behaved so badly that he doesn’t deserve any severance.”

“The pastor’s wife works so we’re off the hook and don’t have to give him anything.”

“Let’s let the church vote on any severance package … and arrange matters so they vote no.”

But as I’ve said many times, the board should offer the pastor severance more than 95% of the time because:

*the pastor’s family needs financial assistance even if the pastor has been a rascal.

*it can take a pastor a year or longer for the pastor to find another ministry.

*a severance package minimizes the chance the pastor will start a new church in the community … and use his recently-former church as his mission field.

*it’s the right thing to do.

I also love the idea that the board encouraged the congregation to write positive notes to the pastor and his family.

This practice can provide healing for the pastor, who is tempted to think, “I must be a horrible person for not being able to keep my pastor-job.”

This practice can also be therapeutic for the congregation because they’ll be forced to see all the good the pastor did during his time at the church … and not just the bad.

Whenever a governing board has to correct a pastor’s conduct, it’s very stressful for everyone concerned … and it’s tempting for board members to say, “Let’s just end the anxiety and fire the guy.”

But when a board operates biblically, their actions might even cause their pastor to agree with their conclusions.

How do you feel about the way this board handled their pastor’s dismissal?

2 Responses

Hello Jim, thank you for your most recent blog; it is refreshing to see that a board followed the biblical principles in dealing with subversive behavior within the church specifically involving one of its church leaders. However; this as you mentioned is not always the norm, and unfortunately is more of a rarity. I served as lead pastor in a small congregation that soon after arriving I realized that this was a group of people that had been in conflict for years before I arrived. I tried to bring about change, love, and unity and the congregation began to grow however; it was met with vengeful resistance.

Some of the people who attacked me on a continual basis were board members, and if I had to classify them I would categorize them as emotional, and spiritual terrorists. The attacks were relentless, and unpredictable which made it very stressful because I would not know when the attack would occur. They did not care whether it was during a bible study, in my office, or right before my Sunday morning sermon, they would hit me whenever they felt like it.

Eventually after 3 1/2 years I was mentally and spiritually exhausted, I was spent, my family was spent, and we could take no more, and by sheer aggression, I was forced from my position as lead pastor. Shortly after my departure I received a letter in the mail by one of the wives of the board member who preached to me that forgiveness is a biblical principle. I have long since forgiven them, and have determined to forget them as well. In the letter there was no accountability mentioned on the part of the wife, or any responsibility for their actions, only that I was to forgive.

I understand that the pastor has to have some level of accountability and I agree that this needs to be in place however; where is the level of accountability for the board??!!! Why does the board get such freedom to govern as they see fit, and the pastor bend at their beckoning call? When I first came into ministry 14 years ago, I was an idealist and wanted to touch lives, help as many people as I could, and set the world on fire for Jesus. I still have fire for Jesus, but my flame for what happens behind the scenes in churches has grown very dim. What I have discovered in my pastoral career is pastors who go into a pastorate full of desire and passion, many times must go through a board to get permission to do things in ministry. The pastor may be the public figure, but the board runs the church with little to no accountability!!

Since leaving the full-time pastorate I have been solicited on 4 different occasions to take a church, but when I think about the prospect, feelings of stress and anxiety well up within me. I do not want to go through what I experienced at my last pastorate, and I am determined to protect my family as well and not to expose them again. When I left my last pastoral position, the board severed my health insurance knowing that my youngest daughter was being treated at the time for neurological issues. They also cut my pay, cut off my dental stipend, and gave me no severance whatsoever. It was very tough the first year to try and support my family, and we suffered not just financially but emotionally and spiritually as well. I was angry at God, the church, and its politics.

It has been 3 years since this has happened, and my anger has since gone, I have determined within myself to heal and have forgiven those who hurt me, and my family, but I have not forgotten. The thought of taking on another church with a board that can do as it pleases makes me shudder. Since I left my pastorate, I have had the privilege of preaching God’s Word on many Sunday’s at churches, I have a full-time job in the secular world and am content. At my “secular” job, there has been no one who has gotten in my face and screamed at me, there have been no persistent and harassing phone calls, there has been no intimidation by my peers, and I have never felt threatened or harassed. Should any of the above happen, there are provisions in my workplace where I could go so such instances could be addressed. Human resources, my immediate supervisor, I could file a grievance for harassment, or go to the labor board; THERE IS NO SUCH THING THAT EXISTS WITHIN THE CHURCH.

In closing, when we hurt one another it is truly the Gospel message that gets the brunt of the pain, every time. When Christians act in a manner that is contrary to the Gospel, they invalidate their message, their presence in the community, and their influence. If the church is using its resources to hurt and maim its own, how can it in the same vein positively impact the world God calls us to love? I would be interested in your thoughts on what the church can do to implement board accountability, and foster an environment that is aligned with biblical character, not bulletin insert bullet points. Thank you Jim…your friend, Gil.

Gil, my friend and brother, I agree with you completely. I suppose some people would say that the board is ultimately accountable to God … that He will right any wrongs in His time and way. Others might say that the board is accountable to the congregation if the church as a whole votes them in or ratifies them in some way. In my situation, a consultant asked me if our governing documents specified a way to remove or recall the board, and of course, they didn’t. However, the documents did specify how to remove a pastor even though much of what was written wasn’t followed.

To quote Donald Trump, the whole system is rigged. The pastor is held accountable for his actions, but the board isn’t. If the pastor appeals to the denomination, they stand behind the board, no matter what they’ve done or how they’ve done it. Nobody does an investigation because nobody really cares about what happened. The denominational people … if they inquire at all … always say to each other, “The board won, the pastor lost, we’ll support the board.”

Another reason why the board isn’t accountable for their actions is because when it comes to their dealings with the pastor, they often make their decisions in the dark, so nobody knows what their decisions are, so they can’t be held accountable.

I think that, if a pastor believes he is being mistreated by the governing board, he should have someplace inside the church where he can appeal … to a personnel team, or an HR team, or a conflict resolution team … without any kind of payback. If that option isn’t available, he should be able to appeal to the congregation as a whole, but then the whole thing becomes political, and there will certainly be winners and losers.

Mediation is a possible option, although the mediator can be just as political as denominational leaders.

There are definitely structural problems inside evangelical churches that prevent pastors from being treated fairly. In fact, in many ways, the deck is stacked against pastors from the outset. If your church doesn’t grow you have a better chance of staying than if your church does grow. If you fail, you stay, but if you succeed, you’re gone. Where else but in the local church is that true?

I hear you loud and clear on how you feel emotionally about serving a church again. I feel the same way. At least you’re preaching.

You’ve passionately raised an abundance of good points. What can we do about it?